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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] : .. benjaminites before there was a benjamin
  • Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 01:21:23 +0200

Dear J. Anna,

"Benjamin" literally means "Son(s) of the Right". "Right" in this context can refer to the right, or strong, hand (which is the explanation hinted at in Gen. 35:18), or to "the south", since in the ANE, "front" was east, "back" was west, "left" was north and "right" was south. Most scholars assume that the Israelite tribe of Benjamin was called that because it was the southernmost tribe of the original "Israel" (excluding Judah). If so, then the story in Gen. 35 is etiological.
In the archives found in the eastern Syrian city of Mari from the 18th century BCE, there are documents mentioning a "tribe" of semi-nomads called "sons of the right" - a linguistic cognate of "Benjamin". They were called this because they lived to the south of Mari. There was also a tribe called "sons of the left/north". In the past, there were scholars who suggested that these "Benjaminites" were the ancestors of the biblical tribe - the chronological and geographical distance is much to large for this to be taken seriously. All the similarity does show, is the way in which some tribes were named in the ANE, and that Israel was no different.
It is very unlikely that the Bible actually refered to people who lived in the 18th century in eastern Syria.

Now, the question of there ever having been a "historical" PERSON named "Benjamin", that's one for a separate discussion.

Yigal


----- Original Message ----- From: <C60605 AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2006 11:55 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] : .. benjaminites before there was a benjamin



.
J Anna.... _c60605 AT aol.com_ (mailto:c60605 AT aol.com) ... in my
internet ramblings, i'm getting snippets of data re existence of a ''tribe of
benjamin'' before benjamin { or jacob ) ever lived. Do ''we'' give
any credence to this concept ?



urls such
as _https://listhost.uchicago.edu/pipermail/ane/2002-March/001077.html_
(https://listhost.uchicago.edu/pipermail/ane/2002-March/001077.html) ... AND
_http://www.antiqillum.com/texts/bg/Legacy/Legacy008.htm_
(http://www.antiqillum.com/texts/bg/Legacy/Legacy008.htm) AND
_https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew/2000-January/006355.html_
(https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew/2000-January/006355.html) AND
_http://arethuse1.free.fr/recherche-manuelle.php?mot=Hammurabi_
(http://arethuse1.free.fr/recherche-manuelle.php?mot=Hammurabi)



FROM what i can gather from these sites, the PURPORTED script goes
something like this ..... A group of pre-jacob amorites
{or at least folks gathered around city of mari } were known as bini jaminu or
similar spellings. One of the above web-pages even uses the term ''race
of benjamin.'' As centuries wore on, jacob and his progeny came along,
and the tribe jews and christians know as ''benjaminites'' eventually
intermarried with the pre-jacob bini jaminu. Indeed, it seems to moi that
the tanakh often uses 'benjaminite' to refer to an AMALGAM of mixed
ethnic groups -- including the descendents of THE benjamin.
..





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